This edition was prepared by Oliver Doyle — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Airs sur les stances du Cid, H 457-459
Staff Notation • Secular, Arias, Laments
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Airs sur les stances du Cid, H 457-459 by Marc-Antoine Charpentier — Lyrics
Percé jusques au fond du cœur
D'une atteinte imprévue aussi bien que mortelle,
Misérable vengeur d'une juste querelle,
Et malheureux objet d'une injuste rigueur,
Je demeure immobile, et mon âme abattue
Cède au coup qui me tue.
Si près de voir mon feu récompensé,
Ô Dieu, l'étrange peine !
En cet affront mon père est l'offensé,
Et l'offenseur le père de Chimène !
Que je sens de rudes combats !
Contre mon propre honneur mon amour s'intéresse :
Il faut venger un père, et perdre une maitresse.
L'un m'anime le cœur, l'autre retient mon bras.
Réduit au triste choix ou de trahir ma flamme,
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About Airs sur les stances du Cid, H 457-459
These three airs for solo tenor are settings of stanzas from Pierre Corneille's play Le Cid. The text expresses the profound anguish of Rodrigue, torn between his duty to avenge his father and his love for Chimène, whose father is responsible for the offense. Charpentier's music captures this inner turmoil, depicting a heart pierced by a sudden and mortal blow, an immobile soul yielding to death. The singer must convey the devastating conflict between honour and love, the desperate choice between betraying his beloved or living in infamy. It is a scene painted with intense personal suffering, a dramatic lament of impossible decisions and infinite pain.
